Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Feb 25;8(8):eabm3608.
doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abm3608. Epub 2022 Feb 25.

Large-scale implementation of rapid antigen testing system for COVID-19 in workplaces

Laura C Rosella  1 , Ajay Agrawal  2   3 , Joshua Gans  2   3 , Avi Goldfarb  2   3 , Sonia Sennik  3 , Janice Stein  4
Affiliations

Large-scale implementation of rapid antigen testing system for COVID-19 in workplaces

Laura C Rosella et al. Sci Adv. .

Abstract

The transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in workplaces has been a persistent issue throughout the pandemic. In response, a not-for-profit initiative emerged to mitigate COVID-19 workplace transmission in Canada. We report the process for establishing a workplace frequent rapid antigen test (RAT) program. The screening program identified 473 asymptomatic individuals who tested positive on the RAT and confirmed positive by a nasopharyngeal polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnostic test. One in 4300 RATs was presumptive positive but later tested PCR negative, and thus, false positives did not meaningfully disrupt workplace operations. Most employers rated the program highly and felt strongly that the program contributed to workplace and community safety. The findings describe a sustained and scalable implementation plan for establishing a frequent workplace testing program. High-frequency testing programs offer the potential to break chains of transmission and act as an extra layer of protection in a comprehensive public health response.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.. The onboarding process for organizations enrolled in the RSC.
This timeline figure represents the starting point from which the organization decides to participate (far left), followed by the different stages of the program indicated by lines in the timeline. All organizations follow this process and ensure the integrity of the program. The arrow to the far right indicates that engagement through town halls continues as long as organizations are screening in the program.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.. Total number of organizations over time by the number of employees between 11 January 2021 and 25 June 2021.
The number of organizations is on the y axis, and the calendar date is on the x axis. The graph represents the cumulative number across the program with colors indicating the size of the organization according to the number of employees, with blue representing organizations with less than 100 employees, orange indicating organizations with between 100 and 1000 employees, gray representing organizations with 1000 to 10,000 employees, and yellow representing those with >10,000 employees.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.. Total number of RATs administered, the number of employees regularly screening, and the number of presumptive positives (positive on RAT) over time between 11 January 2021 and 25 June 2021.
The total number of RATs and the number of employees regularly screened are counted on the left y axis, and the number of presumptive positives is counted on the right y axis. The calendar date is on the x axis. The lines on the graph represent the number of RATs (blue line), the number of employees that were regularly screening at least twice per week (orange line), and the number of presumptive positives (gray line).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Mina M. J., Andersen K. G., COVID-19 testing: One size does not fit all. Science 371, 126–127 (2021). - PubMed
    1. Larremore D. B., Wilder B., Lester E., Shehata S., Burke J. M., Hay J. A., Tambe M., Mina M. J., Parker R., Test sensitivity is secondary to frequency and turnaround time for COVID-19 screening. Sci. Adv. 7, eabd5393 (2021). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brümmer L. E., Katzenschlager S., Gaeddert M., Erdmann C., Schmitz S., Bota M., Grilli M., Larmann J., Weigand M. A., Pollock N. R., Macé A., Carmona S., Ongarello S., Sacks J. A., Denkinger C. M., Accuracy of novel antigen rapid diagnostics for SARS-CoV-2: A living systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS Med. 18, e1003735 (2021). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Siddiqui Z. K., Chaudhary M., Robinson M., McCall A. B., Peralta R., Esteve R., Callahan C. W., Manabe Y. C., Campbell J. D., Johnson K. J., Elhabashy M., Kantsiper M.; CONQUER COVID Consortium, Ficke J. R., Implementation and accuracy of BinaxNOW rapid antigen COVID-19 test in asymptomatic and symptomatic populations in a high-volume self-referred testing site. Microbiol. Spectr. 9, e01008-21 (2021). - PMC - PubMed
    1. J. Gans, The Pandemic Information Gap: The Brutal Economics of COVID-19 (MIT Press, 2020).